Metronome
by Saloph
Summary: Brendan doesn't know what to expect. A new region, a new neighbor, two new villainous organizations, the list goes on. But adventure has fallen into his lap, and together with May, he just has to seize the opportunity. (ORAS, with Emerald elements)
1. The Move

**This is my first fanfiction and I've recently decided to scrap and redo however much of the story I had written by then. I'm also obligated to say that I don't own Pokemon and Nintendo does, but they haven't sued in 20+ years, so it's unlikely that they'd start now.**

**I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Brendan Birch, aged 14, did not have a particularly tortured life, but at the moment, he would have preferred a frying pan to his head compared to the cruel treatment that he was suffering through.

Of course, Brendan, consistently annoyed, had a flair for the dramatic, so it was kind of, remotely possible that he could've maybe over exaggerated a tiny bit.

And then a box fell on top of him, and he fainted on the spot.

He arose to consciousness when his body jumped 3 feet off of the ground.

Groggily, he opened his eyes. He was smack-dab in the middle of a plethora of boxes, all emblazoned with a picture of Machamp. Machamp Moving Men, it read. And to top it all off, an Azurill doll was placed precariously on his head. He quickly shook it off, his face burning red. He could still remember Gold and Lyra laughing hysterically when they had broken into his bedroom the day before, finding the doll tucked into Brendan's arms.

"Where... where am I", he asked, still unsure whether or not he was fully conscious, or even fully sane.

And then a blinding light overcame him as if Arceus themselves had come down from the sky.

Spoiler alert, it wasn't Arceus.

"Brendan, you're finally here!" exclaimed his mother. She then adopted a stern look. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for you? I've been so worried! I called your father and the movers..."

As she droned on, Brendan's mouth kept opening wider and wider. First of all, _he_ wasn't even driving the car. He was in the back, for Ho-Oh's sake. And it sure as heck wasn't his fault that he was stuck in the back of that nefarious thing anyway. His mother and father got to sit in a direct flight from Goldenrod to Mauville City, followed by a train ride from there to Petalburg. Meanwhile, Brendan was shipped to Olivine, where after a 5-hour layover, he was then sent to some place called Slateport, after which he was shipped back here in his new home of...

"Littleroot Town, you silly billy," said his mother. "My my, if you can't even remember where you live, how will you ever remember to get a girlfriend?"

"Mom. No."

She just chuckled and gestured for him to follow her into their new house. On the inside, it was like a whole new world. Even though the moving truck had just got here, the inside was fully decorated, as if the Maple family had been living here for years. Brendan pondered upon that a bit but left it as the will of the gods, or the creepy old dude that loves to scare children off his lawn.

Two Machamps were standing right past the threshold, clearly waiting for his mother to sign some papers. After doing so, the Machamp took the paper, bowed to Brendan and his mother, and promptly left the building. The boy wasn't sure who was driving the car, but he was hoping that Pokemon couldn't receive driving licenses.

"So what do you think Brendan? Isn't this place nicer than that cramped Goldenrod apartment?" Caroline said, depressingly unaware about her son's obvious distaste of the whole situation.

"Let's go with that," replied Brendan.

"Now Brendan," his mother said while raising an eyebrow. "Don't be that way. You should go see your new room! And Dad brought a clock to celebrate the new move!"

"I don't think that _celebrate_ is the right word."

* * *

Brendan trudged down the hallway toward the stairs as his mother positioned herself in front of the television. He walked over to the farthest room on the right. The door had a sign that said 'Brendan's Room' in calligraphic handwriting, no doubt his mother's work. He stepped inside and the room was arranged just as he would have imagined it as if his other had plucked it out of his brain and into reality.

His bed, desk, and television were all in place, and there was a map of the Hoenn region to accompany the brand new clock. Brendan set the time, took one last look at his new humble abode, and walked downstairs. Just as he was about to run out and maybe go to the Ice Cream Shop for an Oran Berry Pop, his mother beckoned him over.

"Brendan! Get down here right now! Your dad's on TV!"

"... And that was the report on the Petalburg Gym. Now Juan, the Gym Leader of Sootopolis City, has been arrested for being too Kalosian for a Hoenn gym leader... Over to you, Gabby…"

"Well, I guess it's over. So I'll just head on over to the Ice Cream Shop and..." started Brendan, before feeling a sharp tug to his ear.

"Not so fast there, young man. One of Dad's friends lives in this town. Professor Birch is his name. He lives right next door, so you-"

"Mom!" The reply was short and sweet, but he could already feel that ice cream slipping out of his reach.

"Now Brendan…" his mother replied, with a raised eyebrow.

A quiet staring contest happened between the two, but soon the young boy caved in.

"All right, I'll go!" Brendan said, fully knowing what would happen next.

"That's my boy."

* * *

Brendan walked out of the door, and walked the ten feet across his lawn towards the only other house in town. He looked at the sign which read 'The Birchs'. The boy, receiving no reply after knocking the door, opened the said door to reveal… the mirror image of his own house.

Brendan could not believe how stupid this was.

A woman about the age of his own mother was busy in intently reading a magazine, and Brendan wasn't sure what to do. After standing awkwardly like that for about 30 seconds, he, well attempted to clear his throat, although it was more of a cough/gag/chuckle. Nevertheless, that seemed to lift the woman from her 'trance', and her confused face quickly turned to a smile

"Oh, and you are?" she inquired.

"I'm Brendan Maple, the son of Norman, the gym leader of Petalburg City," Brendan replied.

"Brendan!" she said, beckoning him inside. "It's been so long since I last saw you. Oh how handsome you've become!"

"Umm, riiight. And you are?" he said.

"Oh, silly me. My name is Jane, Jane Birch. I'm the wife of Professor Birch. We have a daughter who is about your age. Go upstairs and meet her."

Nervously, Brendan walked up the oak staircase toward a room that was covered in zebra striped patterns and pink ribbons. He knocked twice, but there was no response. Debating his choices (and ultimately punching out the moral side), he entered the room and saw a room, scarily much like his own, except pink.

"Who are you?" asked a voice on the far side of the room.

Brendan quickly turned his head and noticed a girl that he hadn't noticed earlier. She was about his height and slim, with long and thick brown hair. Her eyes were blue, a lot like his. She wore a scarlet tank top with a black undershirt, white shorts with black leggings underneath, yellow and black ankle boots, and a red and white bandanna.

"Who are you, and who let you into my room?" the mystery girl asked, her face clearly irritated.

"Oh I was just…" Brendan began to reply, but it immediately became evident that the girl was just teasing with him, and the boy calmed down just as quickly.

"Sorry to give you such a scare like that. My name's May, May Birch. But who are you?"

"Oh!" Brendan replied. "My name is Brendan Maple. I just moved in next door."

"Oh that's right!" May said, her face lighting up. "Dad was telling me something about that. So you're the new gym leader's kid."

Brendan sighed. The gym leader thing again. Norman was good, but he wasn't Diantha or something. How would people recognize his dad in the smallest town in anywhere?

May grinned. "I know how you feel. I get that a lot too. I mean- Oh wait! I forgot to do something! Nice meeting you, Brendan. See you later!"

"Umm. Bye, I guess?" but it was of no use, as she had already left the room.

* * *

Brendan decided that he was bored enough as it was, and decided that he wanted to leave the house as quickly as he could. May's mother was already back at reading her magazine, staring at its pages. Now that he thought about it, his mother had the exact same magazine delivered to their house. Huh, their marketing strategy must be _amazing_.

Leaving the house, Brendan blinked his eyes uncertainly, almost vampire-like. Ready to finally get some ice-cream, he heard a scream in the distance. When he went closer, _against _his gut feeling, as he would later remark, he saw a boy, who told him that the scream had come from up ahead, and that whoever it was going to need a miracle. He wondered if that miracle was supposed to be 14 years old, wildly sarcastic, and otherwise normal in every other way.

Of course he had to intervene.

* * *

The scream in person was a man, and Brendan would have never related the two if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. He had a bit of a gut on him, but had smile wrinkles on his face, although he wasn't smiling right now. His face was strangely familiar as well, like Brendan had seen it just a few minutes ago. His shoes were muddy, and random pieces of equipment were strewn everywhere. On a completely unrelated tangent, it looked like the room of a regular tween-teen boy, with random objects and laundry in all directions. In this wilderness, throw in a TV, and Brendan would have felt right at home.

All of that put aside, that man was running, chased by a Zigzagoon, or more commonly know as, HM slave.

If this was another time, Brendan would have instantly forgot the importance of the situation, and take advantage of the comedy that was unfolding. If he had his camera, this would instantly be online, boosting him to power, fame, and soon, world domination. But alas, that was not to happen.

The man was in no true danger, and Brendan was going to put it aside, but sadly, the mystery man noticed him and called him from afar.

"Hey you! I've got some Pokeballs in my bag! Take one and save me! Please! I am going to die!"

Well this man had a flair for the dramatics. Brendan reached out into the aforementioned bag, and threw out one of them. It revealed to be be an orange, chicken-like Pokemon, with its beak out and ready to battle. The good news was that the Zigzagoon was no longer chasing the mystery man, but the bad news was that it was facing him instead.

Using basic training knowledge that Norman had given him, Brendan just called for a Scratch, and the battle began.

* * *

Brendan would have liked to say that the battle was long and grueling, and would have definitely given a boost to his already inflated ego. Instead, the Zigzagoon was actually a bit of a joke.

After the Zigzagoon had retaliated with a Tackle, Brendan decided to continue the Scratch on Tackle match. After a few more turns, during which Brendan thought of many colorful names for the man, the Pokemon accepted defeat, and slunk away into the wildlife.

"Hey you! Wait up!"

The man, who was actually Professor Birch, couldn't stop stammering his thanks, much like another professor that he had read about.

Professor Birch told him to follow him to his lab, slowly humming some kind of Pokemon song. Brendan shared a look of confusion with the Torchic, who was still out of its ball. Scowling, the two followed the professor to his lab, now with a skip in his step, like nothing ever happened.

* * *

Once they had arrived, the professor took the two to the back of the lab, and started ranting about various things. Brendan didn't hear anything; for all he knew, it could just be wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff. Instead, he was staring around at the lab, which looked to be very modern, surprising considering the out-of-nowhere location of this town.

When Birch mentioned his name, Brendan jerked to attention.

"... and that's how I got stuck in that little incident there. Any questions?" the professor asked.

"You had Pokemon _right there. You're the professor, for Arceus' sakes!"_

"Heh, heh," Birch said with a nervous grin. "Anyway, speaking of more important things, I have a proposition for you. During my annual visit to Kanto, Professor Oak entrusted two Pokédexes with me. One I gave to May..."

"Nepotist," Brendan growled.

The professor, pretending that he hadn't noticed, continued, "And when I heard that Norman's boy was moving here in Hoenn, I decided I would stall to give it to you as well. So-"

"No, no, no, no, no!" Brendan exclaimed. "I'm not getting involved with a Pokédex. Pokédex carriers usually have to save the world from impending doom. There was that incident with Red and Blue in Kanto, and the Slowpoke tail thing in Johto. Hoenn is going to be next, and I want **no** part in it."

"Don't be ridiculous Brendan. There's no guarantee that Hoenn's next. You'll have a harmless time, I assure you. Plus, I let you have that Torchic. Would you like to give her a name?"

"Her?"

"Yes," Birch said patiently. "That's a girl."

After a few moments of deliberation, Brendan decided, "She looks like a Grace to me."

"Wonderful!" said the professor. "Now, your first mission is-"

"What?" Brendan replied, shocked.

"I need you to go bring May. She should be on Route 103."

Brendan just stood there, his mouth open.

"Go on, shoo."

Brendan rolled his eyes. He was in for a long ride.

* * *

**A/N: Updates will most likely be every week.**


	2. The Mission

**In which the duo comes together. The world had best be ready.**

Brendan had received some clear instructions, or as _non-vague _of instructions as possible to be received from a man who had run away from a Zigzagoon, as to May's location. At first glance, it seemed to be straightforward. After going straight through Route 101, and Oldale Town, May would be standing somewhere on Route 103. At least the boy didn't have to worry about the now non-existent threat of a wild Pokemon attacking him. With Grace by his side, wild Pokemon didn't even bother trying to attack him. That was kind of sad, as both trainer and Torchic were hoping for some increase in experience. All in all, the mission was turning out to be pretty bland. Until they reached Oldale Town, that was.

The first thing that Brendan noticed was that this town had a building. This building had a roof. The roof of the building was blue. The building had a white Pokeball on it. And in front of the building was a man. This man sped up towards him, Barry Allen-esque, and ambushed him.

"Hey, kid! Here's a free Potion! They restore HP. Well, bye now!" the man said, quicker than Brendan could blink an eye.

"Hey thanks, man!" but it was of no use. The man returned to his position in front of the Poke Mart, clearly waiting for another passerby to surprise. He looked as if he had a whole box of those free Potions. Brendan considered arson, but it would be a waste of time and energy, and he didn't want this to end up like last time.

Speaking of which, _last time _shalt never be mentioned again.

Walking past the Mart, Brendan came across the Pokemon Center. He knew what to do; movies and TV had taught him that much just go to the nurse and give her your Pokemon. Wait for a few minutes, and _voila_, your Pokemon are all healthy and refreshed. The thing that surprised Brendan was how different it _looked_. The classic sections still remained, with the PC and whatnot, but it was so much sleeker here than back in Johto. Brendan smiled. He could get used to this.

* * *

Brendan stepped outside the Center, pondering about his future actions. He knew that he had to go roughly north for about half an hour, and May would be close by. But the day was still young, and he wanted to explore this town, fully expecting never to set foot in here again.

Five minutes later, Brendan came back to the Pokemon Center. It really was a dinky little town after all; the only two things of interest were the Center and the Mart. Now, he was all set to go up north, but then something near a gateway caught his eye. It may have been a trick of the light, but he decided to go over and check it out for himself.

There was a man near the gateway, and yes, he did look a little peculiar. Brendan just told himself, _stranger danger_, and attempted to cross over to the other side. On an unrelated tangent, the grass really was greener on the other side.

The second he took a step, the man let out a girly shriek.

"Hey!" he said and came rushing over.

"Huh?"

"No touchy. My precioussssss." the man hissed, and he proceeded to push Brendan over back near the Pokemon Center. The saddest part was, however weak the man looked on the outside, he _**still **_was strong enough to push an almost fully grown fourteen-year-old boy.

"And stay out!"

"Sheesh. He's like the Apricorn Man all over again."

Grace, who he had forgotten was still out of her Pokeball, just looked at him, one eyebrow raised.

"Long story. Next time we visit Ethan, he'll tell you all about it."

And pushing that aside, the partners went north, where May was sure to be.

* * *

Route 103 was a bit of a disappointment, in Brendan's opinion. There just wasn't much too it. As he did a bit of exploring, Grace went on ahead, and facepalmed, or at the very least the Torchic equivalent of it. May was right there, and her trainer managed to be dumb enough to look in the other direction.

**"Why do I always have to deal with the idiot ones?"**

Nevertheless, Brendan finally realized where May was, and duly proceeded to go over there, returning Grace to her ball. May, rather than doing research like he expected her to, was instead finishing up the last lines of a _Koffing and the Toxics_ song.

"You got a voice on you, don't you."

May jumped, startled, and turned over towards a smirking Brendan. Her surprise quickly turned into a nervous grin."

"Nah, just a hobby. My mom's one to sing. She used to perform at the Battle Chateau over in Kalos. It's in the genes, I guess."

The awkwardness between the two was so thick that you could have cut it with a knife.

"Oh! Your dad sent me to bring you over. He said he had some kind of message for us."

May scrunched her eyebrows. "Message? That's strange. Unless... It's that time of year again isn't it."

"I think he wanted us to battle or something."

"You have a Pokemon?"

"Yeah, I saved the professor from a Zigzagoon."

The result was May smacking her forehead so loudly that Brendan was sure that it could have been heard all the way back in the lab.

"A Zigzagoon? Of course, he did. Why wouldn't he? Anyway, Brendan, I challenge you to a Pokemon battle. Will, time to shine!"

The Will in question was just a blue, quadrupedal fish-like creature, or in other words, a Mudkip.

"Well then, Grace! Battle Time!"

* * *

It was a close battle, much better than the Zigzagoon Incident, and Grace had won with just a slimmer of health left to spare. After the duo had backtracked to the Oldale Pokemon Center, the two sat down, resting their legs.

"So you're a singer?"

"Well, yeah, I guess. I mean, I have no reason to go on professionally, but I've got a decent voice."

"What do your parents think about that?'

"My mom wants me to do this thing for a living, but I want to travel first, and explore the region. It's kind of ironic that I'm the daughter of this region's most esteemed professor, yet I haven't gone past Petalburg. And you?"

"To be honest, I got shoved, Poke Ball first, into this business. After I saved your dad, he just gave Torchic to me and sent me to find you. I guess that there's no turning back now."

"Huh. Based on that battle, I would have thought that you would have had tons of experience."

"Maybe it's the Trainer's son thing. Like you said, in the genes."

The two shared an awkward laugh, but no more words were shared on the topic. They could both sense that the other was probably sick of hearing the 'follow in their footsteps' talk. It was a quiet calm, almost serene.

"Well, this is nice."

Facepalm.

Meanwhile, the Pokemon were having a conversation of their own.

**"So, how is he?" **Will asked.

**"He's not ****_the worst _****in the world," **Grace said.

As an afterthought, she replied, **"Kind of a moron though."**

gave her a knowing look. **"Tell me about it. On the way here, May must have bumped into at least ****_3_**** trees. So much for being the professor's daughter."**

Grace smiled, then chuckled, and before long, the two of them were rolling along with the table, laughing.

"What's with them?" May questioned. Brendan, as his best and only response, shrugged.

* * *

The journey back was full of nothingness, which was to be expected of course. Apricorn Man II was still blocking the exit, making sure that no one would be able to walk by until he had finished. Kind of like a CPU in a video game, once Brendan thought about it. Route 101 was easier to cross this time around, with all of the ledges and whatnot. Back home, the lights were on, but no one was there for the two to see.

The lab, on the other hand, was open for business. At least 10 of Birch's assistants were rushing about, murmuring about their current research focuses.

"Look at what Rowan sent me..."

"Juniper told me to talk to Elm about the Ruins of Alph..."

May led the two to where the professor was situated. Bleary-eyed yet jovial, Birch turned and looked at them.

"Ah, there you two are. I was wondering when you two were coming. Come follow me. It's a bit loud in here, isn't it?"

* * *

"He beat you on his first try?"

"So?"

"You're_ my_ daughter."

"So?"

"I'm the _Professor!"_

_"So?"_

Before the almost one-sided conversation could escalate any further, Brendan interrupted.

It doesn't matter. Probably just beginner's luck or something. Now," Brendan said, as his face scowled." Professor, I completed your _mission_, and now May's here. So now I'm finally going to get my ice pop before the shop closes. Buh-bye."

He started to walk out, but the Professor had other ideas.

"Wait! I need you to do something for me. I gave you that Pokédex for a reason! There's no point in you just documenting the Pokemon from here to Petalburg. I've already done that! Instead, I need you to go on a journey with Grace. Maybe you could take on the League or something on the side."

Brendan thought about that. It wasn't that bad of an idea. He had wanted to try it out in Johto. Ethan had told him all about that. On the other hand, there was that weird thing with Team Rocket, and he had had enough of that for a lifetime. After weighing his options carefully, he came to a conclusion.

"Fine, I guess. May could come along too if she wanted to."

"I can?" May squealed. "You'd promised that I could go on my journey soon!"

"It's OK with me," Birch said, with a smile. "My girl and Norman's boy, with the two of you together, Hoenn better be ready."

There it was, almost on cue. But at least this time, he had a partner to scream with.


	3. The Meeting

**In which the writer wishes he had a special font for sarcasm.**

**P.S. I've decided to add a small team list for any time an evolution or capture occurs, just to keep track.**

After the two had left the lab, they both decided to crash before they could start their journey. Before they entered their respective homes, they promised each other to meet up early the next morning.

Brendan entered his house, hoping to go to his bedroom and crash right away. He'd had enough of people dragging him around for one day.

But of course, the Big Dude had other ideas.

About 2 steps before the stairs, his mother called him over.

"So how was it?" she asked, with an inquisitive look on her face.

"I got a Pokédex. The professor had some job for me. And I got a Pokemon with it."

"A Pokemon?" His mother's face lit up, and he immediately regretted his words.

"Yes," he said with a pained expression on her face. "Her name is Grace."

He released the Torchic, and his mother immediately between cooing over Grace. The young Pokemon bared her teeth at Brendan, who just smiled.

"Welcome to my world."

* * *

The next day, May woke up earlier than expected, which was a bit strange for her. She wasn't a morning person, that was for sure, and in the case of forced awakenings, trudged around like a zombie for the next few hours. Instead, she woke up agonist like clockwork; the sun rose, and so did she. It was all for the best, though. She moved into a frenzy, suddenly realizing that she had not yet packed.

Brendan, on the other hand, woke up almost _too _late. It took his mother 5 blanket removals and an umpteenth number of reminders to finally force him to get up. He stood, growling at his mother, who was wearing the same pitiful smirk that Brendan had reserved only for special occasions.

"Now, don't just stand there. Move along."

She wouldn't trust him with anything.

Though, as he thought while brushing his teeth, at least she packed for him.

* * *

An hour later, Brendan had left his humble abode, and went over to May's house. She stood there, clucking her tongue as if he was a pitiful peasant and she was Marie Antoinette.

"My my, Brendan. At this pace, we'd reach Petalburg in a month, let alone the League."

"Shut up," he replied, but she caught the twitch at the corner of his mouth.

The two then set out at an even pace, contrary to May's teasing just moments before. They had decided to leave quite early, in fact, the sun was barely over the horizon, and just as well. If they hoped to reach Petalburg before nightfall, they wouldn't've had a chance if they left even an hour later. Route 101 was as boring as ever. Brendan had a no-nonsense look on his face, and all the poor little Wurmple, Poochyena, and Zigzagoons cowered under fear of his gaze. Or that's what was going on in his mind. He was still in a state of unneeded euphoria.

He was suddenly snapped back to attention, this time because of a signal from May.

"I _cannot_ believe that I almost forgot. Dad... I mean, the _professor_... told me to install this new feature in your Pokènav. It allows you to keep track of all the Pokemon on the route."

"But I don't care!"

"You should!"

"But I don't care!"

"But I don't care if you don't care!"

"But I don't ca-," but May had had enough and she proceeded to snatch Brendan's Pokenav right out of his hands.

"But I don't care!" Brendan exclaimed, but the murderous glare that May was giving him was all it took for him to shut up.

* * *

When Brendan and May reached Oldale Town, they knew that they had to get past the weird artist man blocking the entrance to Route 102. Brendan was just explaining the finer points of his elaborate scheme to May, who gave a look of fake interest.

"...after we set fire to his pants, we can go ahead on past him. Any questions?"

"Two. One, what is the polite way to say 'Go Kill Yourself'?" At this Brendan's mouth shot open, like a gun recoiling after shooting a bullet, but May ventured on. "And two, instead of going on and on with your dumb contingency plans, have you ever considered just asking him to move aside?"

"Sure, but that's boring! And besides, haven't you ever wanted to set someone's pants on fire?"

May decided to ignore Brendan's mischievous grin, which had now made him look uncannily like The Chesire Cat. Instead, she went to where Apricot Man II was supposed to be. Rather than finding him though, she saw a man wallowing in self-pity.

Brendan, hearing the loud wails, strolled over.

"Sup, Freaky Frank."

"Brendan!" May said, swatting his shoulder.

"Oh please. The most you were going to do was record him, a grown man crying, post it on the Internet and get on the fast track to fame, and that's the _best_ case scenario."

"What."

* * *

On Route 102, Brendan and May took turns demolishing their opponents. Grace and Will turned out to be perfectly capable of battle, despite the laziness which they had previously exhibited. There were a few small ponds, and May and Brendan stopped to watch a swarm of Beautifly, but there wasn't much else to see.

That is until they saw the Ralts.

In retrospect, May thought, she probably would have ignored it. No matter how rare it was, it was hiding in a corner, and she would have walked by without a glance. It was because of Brendan that she saw it, and that was maybe the only thing that she was grateful for, from _Brendan _at least.

He stopped to tie his shoelaces, although he didn't have any. Instead, Brendan stuck his leg out and tripped May, who went rolling in the deep, quite literally, face-to-face with the Ralts. The Ralts, in turn, produced a reaction that was quite normal, for it. It used Perish Song, or so the two thought.

"That wasn't what I..." She then produced an incredibly loud shriek and began running all through the route. Brendan started to chase after her, realizing what just happened.

Grace and Will, who was released in the confusion, looked at the two teens running like 6-year-olds on a sugar rush at Halloween and sighed.

**"Hey," **Grace said, slightly nudging the Ralts. **"That wasn't a Perish Song, was it?"**

**"Not really. More like a shriek of fear. Besides, I don't even know Perish Song." **it said, with a small chuckle.

**"If nothing happened, we should really tell May and Brendan that. Before long, their voices Will go out with all of the screamings. Them they'll ****_really _****think that they're dying," **Will interceded.

**"Wait. Let's have our fun for a little while. They're not ****_complete _****idiots. They'll come around eventually."**

* * *

When Brendan and May sheepishly realized that they were, in fact, _not_ dead, they just brushed by the incident as if it had happened. The Ralts, on the other hand, remembered perfectly well about the occurrence, and she wanted to have a front row seat for any other hilarious incidents like this. Brendan told May that she could have her (he didn't want to take any chances, Perish Song or not), and with a satisfying_ ping_, the Ralts joined their journey.

They reached Petalburg City in the late afternoon, right after the sweltering hear, but right before the rabid mosquitoes could attack. They were hoping to crash for the night, it _had_ been a tiring day, but instead, the two were stopped by a chance encounter.

"It was a good battle. Just a bit of training, a bit of time, and a bit of strength and you'll get there."

"Thank you, Mr. Norman. I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

Brendan was in no mood to meet his father right now. He and Mom got a plane to Hoenn, while Brendan was stuck on a boat and then the back of the truck. Granted, the boat was a cruise and he had had a lot of fun, but technicalities don't count.

But Norman caught a glance at him and beckoned him forward.

"Brendan, how are you? It's nice to see you out and about so soon after our move," said Norman, completely oblivious to the murderous glare that his son was currently giving him at this second. Instead, he chose to open the doors of the Gym, go inside, and continue his statement.

"And who is this? Brendan, you've found yourself a new friend! And," he said with a pause. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you **are **May Birch, aren't you?"

Brendan saw May squirm at the new attention, she gave a slight nod, and Norman continued.

"Your father said nothing about giving the two of you a Pokedex, let alone a journey. But anyway what are you going to do? Help with the research?"

May just shrugged, praying for Brendan to stay quiet. It must have worked, as Norman turned his attention to his son, and opened his mouth when a boy walked through the door of the Gym. He was about the same age as Brendan and May, just a bit shorter. He had messy green hair, a pale face, and bluish grey eyes, and wore a white shirt, a pastel blue jacket, a pair of grey trousers, and white-and-blue shoes.

"Ex-excuse me, Mr. Norman? I-I-I'm Wally. I called about getting a P-Pokemon?" the boy said, with a small and soft voice.

"Ah, yes!" Norman said, derailing the train of conversation from its previous subject (May breathed a sigh of relief). "That's right. Here are some Poke Balls, a Potion, and a Zigzagoon that you can use to catch your new Pokemon. Now, all that's left is the matter of a teacher. May, I hate to bother you, but I need someone to teach Wally, and Brendan needs to have a talk with me."

May just stood there, her mouth agape at the sudden series of events.

"Go on, shoo."

Brendan smiled and felt nostalgic if one could feel nostalgic after such a short amount of time, for yesterday _May's _father and he was in almost exactly the same positions.

* * *

"Brendan, so what _are_ your plans for your journey?" Norman asked, a few minutes later as they both took a place at a small Gym Leader table.

"Well, I think the best plan of action would be to defeat the Gym Leaders, take on the League, decimate the Champion, and bide my time for world domination."

Norman stared at his son.

Brendan stared back.

Norman glared at his son.

Brendan glared back.

Norman shook his head, as if he had given up.

Brendan yawned.

"Well," the disappointed father said, after dunking his head in a bucket of water. "If you're planning on taking on the gym, I suggest you go to Rustboro City. The Gym Leader there should be a nice challenge for you."

"So Rustboro, the other Gyms and then you?"

"I'm the one that allows Surf, which you'll need to get to the Fortress, Mossdeep, and Sootopolis Gyms. Dewford does too, but there are boats around here. Of the mainland leaders, you'll be facing me last. So let's make it your fifth, and we'll have a father-son battle for the ages."

"Deal."

"And Brendan," Norman said, just as his son was leaving. "If you're serious about the world domination thing, remember this, always, and I repeat, _always_ cover your tracks. I remember Chuck, Claire, and I were going to do that when we were young, starting with Goldenrod..."

It was an hour later before Norman realized that Brendan had abandoned him.

* * *

"So what did Wally catch?" Brendan asked as they headed from the Pokemon Center to the rooms above it for the night. They had said goodbye to Norman and Wally, who had gone to Littleroot and his house respectively. They had just healed up Will, Grace, and May's new Ralts, and were hoping to finally get on a bed and sleep for the night, without any interruptions this time.

"A Ralts, just like mine, but he was a boy instead. We spent a few minutes playing with the two, and then we headed back. It's funny though because Ralts was supposed a rare species, but I've encountered two in the last 3 hours."

"At least they weren't shiny. That would be interesting."

"True. If that'd happened, I swear I would have passed out, and Arceus forbid, there would have been a mud pit."

This last part made Brendan laugh so hard that the Fresh Water that he had been drinking shot right of his nose.

"Brendan, you are the most undignified wart that I have ever met."

Brendan, surprisingly, caught the reference. The laughter stopped.

* * *

Teams:

Brendan: Grace (Torchic)

May:

Will (Mudkip). Ralts (newly caught)


	4. The Forest

**In which creepy men are ignored, scientists become cowardly, and stalkers are born.**

The next morning, May woke up to silence.

It was quite calming as for once at least, there was no pressing problem to be solved, no mission to be sent on, no teaching to be done. As soon as she thought it though, she quietly reprimanded herself. She shouldn't have jinxed it. Just like that one Diantha movie she saw a few weeks ago. They just had to say they were safe, and KABOOM, the bomb exploded. It's better to be safe than sorry, as they always said.

May stretched awake and got a hold of her surroundings. She saw a drooling Brendan on the bed next to her (it was sad that they couldn't afford two rooms, in his _dad's _town), and decided to wake up and get a little training done before breakfast.

"Well, you're up early," said Brendan, yawning a bit.

"So I am, aren't I? I am going to go and get some training done, and if you'd like to join me, you need to get ready within the next 10 minutes."

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Brendan replied, and promptly went back to sleep.

"You need to get up. Now!"

"Geez, Mom. Give me five more minutes. I'll be ready.'

"See that you do."

* * *

15 minutes later, the two were ready to depart, for breakfast at least. After getting a bagel and a cup of coffee each, Brendan and May set out onto Route 104. It was a contrast of sand and grass, with a small beach coinciding with the so-far ever present grassy area. The only signs of human life were two or three trainers like them, a fisherman, and a small, seemingly occupied house.

"So, what do you want to catch? It's not really smart to _only_ take Grace to the Gym, and besides, her Fire typing won't help out too much against Rock types," said May, staring at the ocean.

"Well, I wanted to catch a Grass or Water type, and get Grace to evolve as well. A Fire Fighting Type would be of _much_ more help to me than Grace as she is. Any ideas to help?"

"Well, I think that there are a few Shroomish in the forest, and some..."

'Shhh!" whispered Brendan, as he had noticed something. A man had come out of the bit, quite old, by the looks of him. Besides him was a cute little Wingull, softly fluffing its wings. He smiled at them but did not go any further, which was a relief for May, as she had started to get irritated by Brendan's repeated jabs to her side.

Once they were out of earshot, May glared at the boy, who was now sporting a look of fake innocence. "What was that, peasant? Stop hitting me!"

Brendan threw up his hands in mock protest. "Hey! It's not my fault that I don't want to be kidnapped by some crazy old man!"

May glared at him and sighed, yet she decided to not pursue the topic any further. And besides, there was a pair of trainers ahead of them, and before any comment could be made, the trainers challenged Brendan and May to a Double Battle.

Who knew, it might be possible for them to battle together as well as they could argue.

* * *

"How is it allowed to use a Full Restore this early on?" exclaimed Brendan, and he could tell that May silently agreed. They hadn't even taken on their first Gym and Contest challenges yet, and besides, the Pokemon that the trainers had used the aforementioned item on, Zigzagoons was almost useless. He almost felt pity for their enormous waste of money, but he didn't because they had brought it upon themselves. _You must reap what you sow_, as the saying goes. Also, that cursed Full Restore made them backtrack to Petalburg, just to quickly heal up their Pokemon.

The forest was quite big, at least in Brendan's mind. If he thought about it, he could draw some similarities between this one and the one near Azalea Town. But the size of the forest didn't matter. What _did_ was the Pokemon that he was going to catch. He subconsciously began to wander, thinking about what to do, and his feet brought him out of sight.

May, on the other hand, was wondering about Contests. What she did know was that the nearest Contest Hall was in Verdanturf, there were five categories in which she could participate in, and that she needed a Contest Pass to get a chance to compete. What she didn't know was where to get a Contest Pass, or how she could _possibly _get five different Pokemon to take part in all of the categories before Verdanturf. Most people got that many by the time they reached their fifth gym, to use League terms. To get five by Verdanturf? May shook her head at the thought, and before long, she, like her traveling companion, began to move subconsciously.

"Oof!" said a stranger, having knocked into Brendan.

"Hey, man. Sorry about that," said Brendan, nervous about the man's personality. On the surface, he didn't look like much, just a normal dude, with a lab coat and glasses. Just like Dexter, Brendan's most admired (and only known) scientist.

"Oh never mind," said the man, dispelling Brendan's inhibitions. "Oh young trainers, you look important, as if you have been destined for greatness. So, my highly important question for you is... have you seen a Shroomish anywhere?"

"Is that it? That's your very important question? What a -," At this point, Brendan said a nasty word, followed by an equally nasty glare from May.

"What my incompetent acquaintance means to say is that no, we have not seen a Shroomish anywhere."

"That's a shame. I was really looking forward to seeing one. Did you know that Shroomish have a long and varied history? They have believed to have emigrated from Alola, where the bright sun and varied climate allowed them to have a much different pattern than they have today..."

At this, the two were getting a bit fed up, but out of politeness (May's politeness, to be precise because Brendan could only hold a nice persona for about 4 minutes if he stretched it), they pretended to be paying attention. The scientist had just begun to explain the reproductive systems of Shroomish, and it was then that Brendan had decided to abandon all niceties. He had been through in school once, and that was about humans. He just didn't care about Shroomish enough to know such exquisite details about this Pokemon. Just as he was about to destroy the scientist with a witty remark, something else happened.

"SHUT UP!" screamed another voice, and soon it, along with the man it belonged to. He was a strange sight in the forest environment. For starters, he was dressed in pirate cosplay, and it wasn't nearly close enough to peg him as a Jack Sparrow fanboy. It was more like if he was the product of the Cookie Monster and a TV pirate ship salesman.

"I'm done with your-!" Here the man finally seemed _like _a pirate, because he swore with as much colorful vigor as a Phoenician sailor. "Give me your papers, Devon Researcher, or the kids get it."

"Take the kids, take them!" said the scientist, who then proceeded to cower behind said kids.

"There will be no taking of the kids," said May, in a tone which she usually reserved for her most annoying moments. "Brendan, prepare for battle."

* * *

Prepare for battle was something Brendan had never imagined May would say, but he wished that she would have saved it for a better occasion. The Pirate Ship Monster only had a Poocheyena, and Grace, who had just learned Peck, immediately pecked it to oblivion.

"Darn it!" said Mr. Pirate Ship Monster, which May saw a welcome change from his words earlier. "If I had another Pokemon, you'd be shark chum! This won't be the last time you've heard of me, or of Team Aqua!"

"And here we thought you weren't big on stereotypes," said Brendan.

The man ran away, muttering vulgar obscenities under his breath.

The scientist stood up from his cowering position. "Thank you so much, young saviors. It was with your bravery that I was saved from the horrifying times that were sure to come."

"There were no horrif-" began Brendan, but the scientist interrupted him.

"Hush, child. In gratitude for your brave deed, I bestow upon you a Great Ball. May it serve you well." And with that Victorian-esque speech, the man waltzed out of the woods.

"A Great Ball, huh?" said May. "I'll admit, I expected more. With the tone he was talking in, I thought you were going to be knighted."

"Well, there's no reason why I shouldn't either way. From now on, you may refer to me as Sir Brendan of Littleroot," uttered Brendan, who had a haughty lilt appear in his voice.

"More like Sir Brendan of Idiocracy."

"You're 14 years old. Don't you have comebacks that are more mature?"

"Oh, please. Don't question my maturity. Yesterday, you poked your eye with a carrot because you thought that it would improve your vision and so you didn't have to eat it."

And the two left the Forest bickering, and it was because of this that they didn't notice the young woman staring at them.

"I'm sorry Mr. Matt. Operation Pirate Booty is a no-go. A little something or the other got in the way of Agent Barnabus. What's that? Yes, the trap has been set. With any luck, our attack team will have successfully stolen the papers in Rustboro. Team Aqua shall prevail yet!" and with that, the woman cut the call, her mind still fixating on Brendan and May.

"Those two were good," she thought. "Not Archie-good, but good nonetheless. If only I could convince Archie to let them join..."

* * *

Of course, this silent conversation occurred unbeknownst to the duo, and instead, they focused on arriving at the nearest PokeCenter before nightfall, where hopefully. a bed, a shower, and a hot meal would await. In the short run though, they had other problems.

Immediately upon exiting the Forest was the Pretty Petal Flower Shop, to which they had mixed feelings. May had seemed excited to go in, not because of the girly stereotypes, but because as the daughter of a Professor, she was genetically inclined to study the habitats of Pokemon, including flowers. Brendan, on the other hand, thought that the shop was a waste of time, and the most joy he could get out of it was hold the cashier for ransom, although he wasn't sure if he would get paid in cash or berries. They reached a compromise, in which May would go in, while Brendan would stay close by.

The shop was adequate at best, according to May. There wasn't anything wrong, there just wasn't much to do. All she got was a Wailmer Pail (that was a weird name) and a Leppa Berry, not to mention some unneeded advice on planting Berries.

Brendan immediately reneged on his promise to May. He began by talking to the little boy near the shop, who gladly gave him the Technical Machine for Echoed Voice. He didn't know how to put much use to it, but he figured that May's Ralts could work it out. After the thanking the boy (a rarity for Brendan), he began to wander around the shop. He noticed a short patch of grass behind the shop that he hadn't seen before. He expected that he could at least get some training done, enough to distract him from the shop-induced boredom.

What he did not expect was the Marill.

It was not an ordinary Marill, that was for sure. Immediately after seeing Brendan, he proceeded to shoot a Water Gun at his face. While the boy did deserve it, it certainly didn't need to come from something so small and pitiful. If out of nothing more then spite, Brendan made a silent vow that he would catch it.

He sent out Grace at once. He knew that there was a clear disadvantage, but it wasn't like he had any other options. She began to alternate Peck and Scratch, and eventually, the Marill got down to catching range. Brendan decided to use the Great Ball that he had just gotten. The Marill was a bit too much like him, and if he was the one getting caught, a Poke Ball wouldn't cut it.

After 3 shakes, the satisfying _ping_ sound could be heard through the air, and the Marill was his. He released him and then promptly got splashed by another Water Gun. This time though, Brendan began to laugh, almost uncontrollably, and after a few wary seconds, both Marill and Grace began to laugh as well.

"So Marill," said Brendan, after catching his breath. "How would you like to play a joke on someone else for a change?"

A few minutes later, a shrill voice squeaked, "Brendan Maple you insufferable little-!"

* * *

Teams:

Brendan: Grace(Torchic), Marill (Newly Caught)

May: Will(Mudkip), Ralts


	5. The Teacher

**In which Brendan takes his first step to domination.**

After successfully pummeling Brendan to a pulp, May finally calmed down enough to focus on the more important things, such as reaching Rustboro before nightfall. There was already an unhealthy pink tinge in the sky, and she knew that she needed to arrive there quickly so that the journey would be closer to ending, and that she could finally get rid of Brendan. Funny as he may have been, he could often prove to be dumb and immature, she thought privately.

Also, she wasn't dry yet from the Water Gun ambush, so that was a contributing factor.

After a few meaningless battles on the Route, they finally reached Rustoboro. It was clearly much bigger than Littleroot, Oldale, or even Petalburg. The city seemed to stretch for at least a mile in all directions, but even from the city entrance, they could see the GYM sign, the neon light from it visible for miles.

"Finally, we're here," said Brendan, who then promptly yawned. "At the speed at which we were going, I thought we wouldn't arrive till tomorrow morning at the earliest."

"Well, we're here now. So, Supreme Leader, what's the plan? Do we go to the Gym first thing in the morning?" asked May pointedly.

"I really want to train up Grace and Marill first. If we could get Grace to evolve into her Fighting type stage, and if Marill could learn more than just Water Gun, I think I'd have a pretty solid team for tomorrow."

With the itinerary for the next day's morning set, the duo headed up to the Pokemon Center for the night. After booking the room and eating dinner, the two settled in, anxious for tomorrow.

"Hey May?" asked Brendan, as he got into his bed.

"Yeah?" replied May, doing the same as her companion.

"Keep up the Supreme Leader bit. I like it."

* * *

The next morning was strange, for May at least. She hadn't remembered that she was in Rustboro as she woke up, which was weird, because she had traveled farther than she had ever gone before, and that too alone. Well, Brendan came along too (like she could forget it, with him snoring in his bed), but she was out in the real world, without adult supervision.

Then the boy snored loudly, and all existential thoughts vanished.

45 minutes later, after the two were fresh and fed, they left the Pokemon Center with a mission at hand. With no other options for training, Brendan and May headed up to Route 116. It was quite useful for their purposes, to say the least. They decided to split up at the relatively short route, and began to grind, as the kids say.

Brendan battled dozens of wild Pokemon. In fact, so many were purged that he may have developed a bit of an evil reputation among the Route 116 Pokemunity. It was productive though, as Marill had leveled up enough to learn BubbleBeam, which would be of help in the Gym, which was Rock Type. Marill may have made some good progress, but Grace was almost obstinate in not evolving, no matter how many Nincadas came in her path. In fact, it took almost three hours of training for Grace to finally evolve into her Combusken stage, and with it learn Double Kick. The hard work was not for nothing though, because the move would be of good use not only here in Rustboro, but against his father back in Petalburg.

May went the Trainer route instead. There were quite a few on Route 116, and even some more that normally need Cut to access. Not for nothing though, because May had taken gymnastics as a kid, and she used these childhood skills to jump over the ledges that would have normally blocked an unsuspecting trainer's way.

"That's not fair!" screamed a schoolgirl.

"I don't care," replied May in turn.

She made similar progress with Will and Ralts. Neither evolved, a fact which she resented a bit, but they had leveled up enough to not be useless in battle. She had been particularly happy when Ralts learned Disarming Voice, a Fairy-type move, something which she still didn't completely understand, but she didn't have enough time to do further research. Then again, she was a Professor's daughter, and so it was expected of her to go and take up the job herself, something which she clearly had no patience for. Her resentment was solidified even more by Aurea Juniper taking the job over from her father in Unova, so there was a precedent.

A precedent was annoying.

* * *

When the pair rejoined each other later that morning, they were content enough with their training to go straight to the Gym.

That was something neither of them was expecting. The entrance was decorated like a museum, with exquisite fossils adorning various shelves on the floor and along the wall. The back was a different story. It was like a maze, but much smaller, and a few warm-up trainers were hidden in open sight.

There was an option to skip the warm up trainers, but Brendan wasn't fully ready, so he decided to take them on anyways. As expected, each one was a pushover.

Finally, they reached the Gym Leader, who was nothing like they expected. She looked more like a student than a powerful Gym Leader, with red eyes, brown hair, and the most obvious hint: a school uniform. She was writing a paper and didn't seem to expect them when they talked to her.

"That's strange," she said, after recovering from her modest surprise. "I thought today was going to be a quiet day. Then again... You two aren't Pokedex kids, are you?"

"Does it really matter?"

Roxanne ignored Brendan's remark while saying, "It's that time of year when Professors usually give out Pokedexes to promising young children. Now," she asked, gesturing towards Brendan. "Judging on your reply to my question, I'm assuming that you're my challenger?"

After receiving a curt nod in reply, she said, suddenly assuming a commanding tone, "I, Roxanne, Gym Leader of the Rustboro Gym, hereby accept your challenge. It's time to put what I learned at the Trainer's School to use. Geodude, prepare for battle!"

* * *

For a Gym Leader, Roxanne didn't seem too challenging. Then, of course, it was his first badge, and Brendan assumed that she was commanded by League rules to go easy on him.

Her first Geodude was almost a joke. It took Marill only one BubbleBeam to defeat him. The second one was a bit better, wearing out Marill considerably, but eventually, the Water Mouse came on top.

Roxanne's final Pokemon was something... interesting, for lack of a better word.

It was not an Onix, that was for sure. It was more like a giant Mr. Potato Head made out of stone, minus the mustache, as Brendan so poetically portrayed. Both children had a resounding question in their minds, immature as they were, but they still had enough self-respect to not speak it out loud. For the moment at least.

Roxanne clearly had experience with the blank looks on their faces.

"Ask me after the battle and I'll give you a nice and detailed explanation. Nosepass is my strongest Pokemon and the star of the Rustboro Gym. Not only that, it is one of the Hoenn region's strongest Rock-Types. Do not underestimate it."

"Funny," muttered Brendan under his breath. "I was more worried about _over_estimating it."

Roxanne heard his statement and responded by commanding Nosepass to use Rock Tomb on Marill.

"Use BubbleBeam!"

Both attacks hit their targets, but the Rock Tomb finally knocked out poor Marill. Brendan was ready though, and he sent out Grace, who after taking one look at her opponent, gave a cheeky smile in return.

"One more Rock Tomb, Nosepass!" ordered Roxanne.

"Double Kick!"

The Nosepass didn't stand a chance.

* * *

"I've been told to give this to prevailing trainers," said Roxanne, walking over to Brendan with a small object in her hand. "This is the Stone Badge. Now, you can have authority over all Pokemon up to Level 20, even ones that you've traded for. Additionally, you can now use the HM Cut outside of battle."

Brendan examined his new badge for a few seconds before placing it into the first slot in his Badge Case. "Cut, huh? Where's that?"

"It should be somewhere around town, but you'd probably have to search for it," replied Roxanne with a quizzical look on her face.

"No need," said May, who left her seat in the stands to join the Gym Leader and challenger on the battlefield. "I went and got it from a man in a house last night."

"Breaking and entering, huh? Never pegged you as a cat burglar May," said Brendan, with a smirk on his face.

He got his reply with a hard shove, but he knew that she was smiling the inside.

"Back to more important matters," said Brendan, ignoring May's sound of disgust at him. "Where can we find our next Gym Battle?"

"Well," answered May, with the map function open on her PokeNav. "We could go back up to Route 116, and go to Mauville City through Rusturf Tunnel."

"That's not possible," remarked Roxanne. "Rusturf Tunnel is closed. Something about disturbing the natural Pokemon habitat... But maybe you could head back down the forest and into Petalburg. There's a Gym there."

"Nope. I made a deal with Petalburg's Gym Leader that I wouldn't battle him until I got four other badges."

"Huh," replied Roxanne. "That's interesting. Only Petalburg, Rustboro, Mauville, and Lavaridge have Gyms in the mostly land part of Hoenn. There are boats around here, so you can get to Dewford, but you need Surf to even _get_ to Fortree, Mossdeep, and Sootopolis, and you can only use that with the Balance Badge."

It might not have been public knowledge yet that Brendan was Norman's son, or even that Norman _was _a father. If it had been, then Roxanne was doing a spectacular job at hiding it. Maybe he could just say that he was Norman's son to _every_ Gym Leader and just get the Badges for free.

Then again, they'd probably want DNA proof and other genetically linking documents, and Brendan had forgotten all of those at home.

"You should aim for Dewford," said Roxanne, snapping Brendan back to reality. "It's not that far away, only a day by sea."

"Do you know where we can find a boat around here?" asked May.

"I'm a teacher, not a sailor," replied Roxanne. "But I'm sure that someone around here has one. It shouldn't take that long to find."

* * *

Roxanne wasn't lying. She wasn't a sailor, so that might have been the reason that they couldn't find a boat, in a _port city_, for the life of them. In fact, they wasted almost an hour trying to argue with the Rustboro Boating Association if they could commandeer a kayak or something of that caliber. For research purposes, of course. Norman was his father, Birch was her's. That was their best shot.

That didn't work out, obviously, and so Brendan and May left to head to the Pokemon Center in hopes of a weary sailor or two agreeing to transport them towards Dewford Town so that they could battle the Gym Leader there, and hopefully get to Slateport with a bribe or something like that.

They were 14, rules didn't apply to them.

The Pokemon Center proved to be absolutely useless. There were, in fact, two sailors present, but the first was too busy gorging himself in the restaurant to reply to their queries with more than a rude hand gesture, whereas the second was too busy mourning the fainting of his Pelipper to pay attention, instead giving Brendan a big hug while sobbing into his shoulders, much to the boy's embarrassment and his companion's delight.

"Is that a budding bromance I sense?" asked May, trying but failing to suppress a smirk.

"Shut up."

* * *

After healing up Grace and Marill, which turned out to be the only helpful service that the Pokemon Center provided that day, Brendan and May decided to leave Rustboro. It wasn't like there was anything wrong with it, but Brendan had been desperately trying to forget about the hug, and May wanted to bleach out the memory of her threatening the Boating Association's manager with an oar.

They figured that they could head down to Petalburg, where they would torment (the verb, not the move) Norman to the point that he would use his special Gym Leader status to commission them a nice, luxury cruise boat. If that didn't work, they could sweet-talk Professor Birch, who often took excursions to Granite Cave on the Dewford Island, into taking the duo with him.

Fate, of course, had different plans for them that day,

They had barely stepped out of the Center, and immediately a commotion had begun uptown. Even though the two knew, using their sixth senses no less, that something major would occur, and that they would get roped into it, they decided to go see what it was about, on the off-chance that it was a dancing Ambipom.

There were no dancing _Ambipoms_ waiting for them. Instead, it was a dancing scientist, who looked vaguely familiar.

He kept screaming one thing over and over again, as if he was on a loop, or if the phrase was his mantra.

"Stop that thief! He stole the Devon Goods!"

* * *

Teams:

Brendan: Grace (Combusken, evolved this chapter), Marill

May: WIll (Mudkip), Ralts


End file.
